Hola, readers! We caught up with Bevin Holmberg of Melon Bee who will be sharing her space at The BIG THAW with Melissa Bankhead, seamstress extraordinaire. We learned that Bevin is a recent Maine transplant (Welcome, Bevin!) and that she has a super cool ‘day job’ to help pay the bills…

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The BIG THAW: What goodies can customers expect to see while they’re browsing at The BIG THAW?

Melon Bee: Well, Melissa is going to have some really neat fabric items, like aprons, cute baby bibs, and sweet iPad covers. She does fun fabric trades with her mom, all the way on the other coast in California. I (Bevin) am going to bring prints of a series I painted… it’s an animal for every letter of the alphabet! The originals are colored pencil, ink and water color. I painted all the animals during a pretty miserable winter in Minnesota, and I really believe they helped me maintain some sanity! I have also been working on some little painted panels inspired by Swedish textile patterns lately, and I will have a few at the sale.

Loggerhead Turtle by Melon Bee

TBT: Lots of your work deals with animals and animals are our favorite. Do you pick the ones you want to illustrate at random or for a reason?

MB: Growing up, if I wasn’t outside exploring, I was inside pouring through world book encyclopedias, trying to draw all the interesting animals I found. As a kid, I wanted to be a marine biologist, and my favorite animal was a manatee, so that was a given for the letter ‘m’ in this series, but I tried to make some stretches for most of the other letters!

TBT: When you’re not painting what occupies your time?

MB: When I am not making art on my own, I am hiding in the backroom of Trader Joe’s, working on signage for the store. I also love riding my bike and walking around Portland (don’t have a car)… there’s so much to explore! I’ve been taking a ceramics class at Portland Pottery, too, which has been fantastic.

Melon Bee

TBT: What do you love most about the Spring in Maine?

MB: Well, I actually just moved here in September, and the Fall was beautiful! …So, I haven’t experienced a Maine Spring yet, BUT I am super excited because I imagine it’s similar to Minnesota. People just come out of hiding, and everyone is thrilled to get outside and take a deep breath of fresh air. There’s something about warmer weather after it’s been so cold that just makes your whole body relax!

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Thanks, Bevin! You can find Melon Bee’s creations and more at The BIG THAW Arts, Crafts and Vintage Sale on Saturday, April 16th (this weekend!) at 10 Mayo Street (Mayo Street Arts Center). Please email thebigthawportland@gmail.com if you have any questions!

Ohhh drizzle, drizzle. The weather’s forecasting cloudy and in the 40s for Saturday but as long as it’s ANYTHING but this we’ll be psyched! Actually, rain is a huge part of the thaw – after all, how would thirsty crocuses get what they need to start popping their heads out of the ground?

Here’s a bit of glass magic from David Jacobson Glass to brighten up your gray day. We’re intrigued by his text bubbles and beautiful rendered housewares!

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What new wares can customers expect to see at The BIG THAW?

I’ve been making a lot of new work for this show that I’m excited about. Handblown glass bud vases in celadon, robin’s egg blue, turquoise and white. More slumped glass platters and bowls in new color combinations. For example, black and white stripes, cobalt blue stripes, a pale blue stripe that looks like spun sugar. And, my Conversation Pieces™ — just like the word balloons you see in comic strips, but made out of handblown white glass. You can hang them on the wall, if you choose, and write and draw on them with dry erase markers to say whatever you want, whenever you want.

Vases by David Jacobson Glass in super Spring colors

2. What inspires your glass work?

Textile patterns, and colors and textures that I see in nature. The texture of the finished piece is as important to me as the colors I use and how it looks. For example, the glass bowls I make have a lot of texture as a result of the two layers of glass canes that I fuse together.

Textures and Tones in David Jacobson's Work

3. What is your favorite thing about Spring in Maine?

Knowing that summer is right behind, with tennis and kayaking.

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As if we weren’t excited enough for Saturday! You can find David peddling his wares at The BIG THAW Arts, Crafts and Vintage sale this Saturday, April 16th. Mayo Street Arts Center, 10 Mayo St, Portland, right off of Cumberland Ave on the East End. We look forward to seeing you there!

Soft, dreamy, and luxurious are all things that come to mind when laying your eyes on April Newman of Lulubean’s hand crafted, hand painted fiber and hand spun yarns. April strives for the highest quality fiber when creating an artistic blend for hand spinners. It is also obvious by looking at her work, that she has a sophisticated and elegant color pallet with her hand dyed batches. There is also so much fun in her variety of juicy colors, and she pushes toward a very trendy and modern color combination with her craft as well. I can’t help but think of each batt of blended fibers as a unique one of a kind painting. Not only does April explore color, but she blends fiber in the most creative way using bamboo, faux cashmere, domestic wool, merino lamb, SW merino, sari silk fabric strips, mohair, Tussah silk, baby alpaca, Wensleydale locks, soy silk and kid mohair, and more!

Fiber and Spindles by Lulubeans

When I asked April what inspired her to begin her work as a fiber artist and what gave way to the start of ‘Lulubeans’ she replied, “I taught myself to knit when my first daughter was a toddler. Yarn kept my hands busy and soothed my busy mind. Once I had mastered knitting and purling, making my own yarn was the natural next step!” I then asked her what her favorite part about her work was and the answer didn’t surprise me! ” I love the functionality of what I do. It makes me so happy to know that fiber I have dyed will make a novice spinners first hand-spun yarn, or that a yarn I have spun will be lovingly knit into someone’s favorite hat. Making things that other people use to make things is a great and fantastic thing; the creative chain (and the joy of making!) just keep going, and going. Awesome.” One of her more popular items does just what she loves it to do: teach others to spin. April sells a complete ‘Learn to Spin Drop Spindle Kit’ which includes one top whirl drop spindle, 4 ounces of handpainted domestic wool top (also called roving), clear, easy to follow drop spindle instructions AND hours and hours of fun! You want to give it a go, don’t you!?!

Walrus by Lulubeans

There is so much about the fiber arts community that excites April. ” I have so much admiration for so many artists and crafters. The fiber arts community is hustlin’ and bustlin’ and growing by leaps and bounds online *and* here in Maine. I’ve been so lucky to virtually meet so many talented people, and connect with so many fantastic artists right here in my home state.” Lulubeans has a wide variety of fiber available including beautifully finished hand spun yarn. April plans to show up at ‘The Big Thaw’ not only sharing her fiber wears to the public, but to meet and enjoy a day with fellow artists. ” I can’t wait for The BIG THAW! There’s going to be so much talent and positive energy in one place and it’s going to be so good to be a part of that!” I think we can all agree that we love ‘The Big Thaw’, but what we can also agree on we love the most is what ‘The Big Thaw’ will do to bring us together! YAY!

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Hear, hear, ladies! The BIG THAW Arts, Crafts and Vintage Fair will be held THIS WEEKEND on Saturday, April 16th from 10am to 4pm at the Mayo Street Arts Center at 10 Mayo St. We can’t wait!

Greetings from The BIG THAW and hope you’ve had a lovely weekend! Some highlights in our corner of the universe included waking up to snow on Saturday morning (what the?!), a rousing show from Dirty Rogers, Huak and the Heebeejeebies at Geno’s on Saturday night and a rather impulsive and indulgent shopping spree at Fotoshops (closing…boo…), Material Objects and Bliss (big sale!) with some very nice ladies.

Best Buddies T-Shirt

Speaking of nice ladies, today it’s my pleasure to introduce you to the fine stylings of Bethany Hayes-Chute. When The BIG THAW caught wind of her Etsy shop we were charmed to bits by the screen printed homage to all things Maine, plaid, and her lighthearted ‘creatures’ that play in geometric space on her t-shirts and onesies.

Maine Tee. Plus that Guy is holding a Chicken.

To follow the handmade code is one thing – but to really embrace it is another. Not only are Bethany’s ‘creatures’ a cast of characters that have followed her from childhood, but she shares them with the world via a hand made silk screen press. Mmm and who doesn’t love unique silk screened Tees for a Maine summer? And look at these colors!

Dance Party Onesie. Your kids can look awesome, too!

And as if making cool t-shirts and onesies wasn’t enough Bethany makes gorgeous, simple, yet substaintial necklaces to boot. The BIG THAW and Bethany are a match made in heaven — both artist and organization placing a huge emphasis on quality over quantity. Bethany describes her jewelry work in her Etsy shop as such:

“All of the pieces I create are original, one of a kind designs. I have extremely high standards for quality of materials, workmanship and technique. I use only Sterling Silver or Fine Silver findings and materials, never base metal, surgical steel or silver plated. In instances of gold findings and materials, I use either 14K Gold-Fill or 22k Gold Vermeil.”

Phew! My mail carrier must be mightily confused where up until a few weeks ago all s/he brought to my front door was bills and catalogs. With all these handwritten envelopes coming to me from amazing Maine artists, crafters and vintage resellers my new favorite thing to do is come home from work and get the mail! OK, truth be told, it’s always been one of my favorite things to come home from work but this is the icing on the cake.

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Today: a reminder. It’s a good idea if you haven’t sent in your application yet to make sure it’s in the mail by Friday, February 26th to make the February 28th deadline.

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Another reminder: no application is considered ‘accepted’ until you’ve received and email from The BIG THAW confirming your application and your vendor fee check has been deposited. We’ve had an overwhelming demand for upstairs spaces, so those of you who end up in the artist studios downstairs will receive a $10 refund from your original check. The artist studios downstairs will be open, as well, and we will be feeding customers down the stairs the only way we know how: with candy. Also, thoughts on a purchase-based raffle have been kicking around and I’ll have more details later but I do know it will be incentivizing visiting downstairs vendors. The spaces downstairs are perfect for: vintage sellers and people who need wall space to hang flat or framed prints.

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Grace Potter and the Nocturnals by Meagan Anderson and Emblem Studio

In other news, I hope to be meeting this weekend with Kris Johnsen of Emblem Studios and Meagan Anderson who are the fantastically talented artists who are going to be making The BIG THAW poster. We’ll have a run of 100 limited edition silk-screened prints available for sale at The BIG THAW. The poster you see in front of you is an earlier collaboration from the two talented artists that piqued TBT’s interest and made us say “Yes, yes. These are the people who must make our high-flying flag.” Er, poster. Still! Keep your eyes peeled for visual excellence.

Hi, everyone! Thanks for visiting The BIG THAW website. You’re probably looking for more information about how to apply, so you can click on the tab at the top of this page that says “Apply!” to download the .pdf (please email littleeyedesigns at gmail dot com for a .doc file)

I was reflecting today on how huge the response has been already to what was just a seed of an idea at the beginning of January. Phew! I wanted to talk a little about how we encourage sharing tables for artists, crafters or vintage sellers who may be doing their first craft fair, who like spending the day with their friends selling awesome things, or maybe don’t have as much start up cash as they’d like.

Let me be the first to say: applying to The BIG THAW with your buddy to split a space is highly encouraged. Why? Well, truth be told is that no matter what Carl Sagan says, space is limited. We calculate to have room for about 30 vendors, if only individuals were to sign up. But wouldn’t it be great if we had 10 shared tables and were able to expose our visitors to 40 sellers instead of 30?

Here is a little bit of info why it’s great to share + care with your artist-y, vintage-y friends:

2. Company. Sometimes 6 hours can seem like a long time to be on your feet, peddling your wares. It’s nice to have a familiar face to keep you company throughout the day.

3. Friends are your best salespeople. Sometimes when sales are lagging at fairs my friends and I have done we’ll trade places and sell each others’ stuff. It really works – lots easier to be a salesperson for someone else than for yourself (although it’s good to learn that skill, too!)

4. Someone to watch the table while you go get snacks. And who doesn’t love snacks?! Mayo Street’s refreshment bar will be open throughout the day so you’ll leave your cash box at the table during snack time knowing someone’s sitting on top of it for you.

5. Load in/Load out. Lugging five trips from the main floor to your car, no matter how long or short that trip is, is always exhausting. Better to have four arms than two to make it happen!

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Lastly, I’d like to reiterate that applications will be open through February 28th, 2011. No applications are considered accepted until vendor fees are deposited and a notice is sent to the seller or main contact on the application.

We really, really, really wish we could fit everyone but just know your organizers are thinking about every aspect of every application and making the tough decisions with due diligence. And lots of chocolate cake. Lots and lots.